We woke to encounter what Guil called the “Brazilian way”,
some fried cheese empanadas made especially for the few vegetarians in the
group. With the moans and groans of aching calves we set out on our next
adventure. After loading up the cars and
driving once more over Ali’s dreaded bridge, we crossed into Santa Catarina
state and arrived at our next destination; an outcrop split by a cascading
waterfall. At this outcrop, Guil gave us our first true graded test as budding
geologists by separating us into pairs to make observations and form hypotheses
on the origin of the rock formations shouldering the falls. As we developed our
theories, Guil and Lydia, accompanied by a dexterous goat, journeyed down the
rock face to collect samples for their ongoing research at the site. Although
most of our explorations thus far have concluded with an explanation of the
local geology, this was our first encounter with an outcrop for which our
instructors didn’t provide a definite answer; we had both literally and
metaphorically arrived at the cutting edge of geology.
After a couple hours of making observations, we all packed
into the cars to eat lunch, away from the wind that nearly blew some of our
tiniest members and a few cucumbers away. Unfortunately, disaster struck once
again. Guil hauled our TA’s out of the trunk of our favorite car, Eugene, who
was revealed to be suffering from a flat tire. Fortunately, Eugene was hiding a
spare and our handy instructors were able to fix him up and send us onward to
our next outcrop. At the next destination we were given the much-needed opportunity
to relieve the stress of our previous test and smash some rocks. Although the
rocks put up a worthy fight drawing first blood in the form of Matan’s finger,
Virginia and Andrew emerged victorious with samples. Some were almost the size
of the tiniest members of our group. After this thorough pummeling, we
investigated the remains and learned that there were two different kinds of
rocks: a glassy silicic rock studded with amygdules, and a courser grained rock
that turned out to be a surprisingly young basalt. Based on these compositions
and our observations of the sharp contacts between the rocks, we came to the
conclusion that the basalt intrusion was a dike, and proceeded to confirm its
orientation with our compasses. Following some minor confusion, we measured the
orientation to be at 5-10 degrees N. This seemingly small observation
contributed a powerful piece of evidence towards the geological phenomena we
observed yesterday. The north-south orientation of the dike probably filled in
the thinned crust, which formed during the east-west split of South America and
Africa 135 Ma. Finally, we had some solid support to back up Guil’s wild
theories.
Once we made our way back to the cabins, we had the option to go on a short hike to a waterfall nearby. Some of our more weary members decided to take a much-needed nap, while the rest of us packed up in two cars with Lydia and Guil and left for the next adventure. After scaling up another very steep hill which reminded us all too much of the previous day’s treacherous climb, we were treated with quite a sight. On our way, when Ryan asked Lydia to rate the magnificence of the waterfalls on a scale of zero to Niagara Falls, she responded with a three; when we made it to the overlook, we realized that she had vastly undersold what turned out to be the most beautiful falls we have seen in Brazil so far. Of course, Nick couldn’t resist hop-scotching across the questionable rocks in the waterfall to get close to the edge. Not to be left behind, all the others followed suit, which led to an interesting exercise in team building when we got stuck on our way back to dry ground. Guil may have gained a few grey strands of hair during this, for which we take no responsibility.
At the end of the day, we all gathered in the restaurante to have our fabulous final feast at the Monte Negro cabins. Another fine example of Brazilian hospitality was the meatless lasagna for the hungry vegetarians, which made Jen explode with joy. The night ended with people packing their bags to leave for Ausentes (via Bom Jesus) the next day. Although we will sorely miss Monte Negro, and all the beautiful landscapes, heated blankets, and world-class meals it has to offer, we can’t wait to see what Brazil has in store for us next.
AvarnYAS and NicholYAS
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